The John Maddox Prize rewards an individual who has promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest. Its emphasis is on those who have faced difficulty or hostility in doing so.

Do you know someone who stands up for science? Who of your colleagues has addressed misleading information in a public forum? Is there someone in your networks who has brought sound evidence to a public debate? Nominations of active researchers who have yet to receive recognition for their public-interest work are particularly welcomed. This is an international prize, so nominations from around the globe are welcomed.

The winner of the John Maddox Prize will receive £2000, and an announcement of the winner will be published in Nature. The award is presented at a reception in November.

Full details and online nomination form are at the Sense About Science website. Please forward this on to your networks, and for any queries email Victoria Murphy, vmurphy at senseaboutscience dot org

Deadline for nominations

Deadline for nominations for the 2015 John Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science is fast approaching, 20th August 2015.

You can read about the past Maddox Prize winners at the Sense About Science website. Perhaps you will nominate the 2015 winner? Please share this with your colleagues and encourage them to nominate. If you can think of someone who could be nominated you can do it online, or promote the prize by circulating this text, or tweeting #MaddoxPrize. An example tweet may be: “Nominate now for the #MaddoxPrize to reward someone who stands up for science and evidence bit.ly/Maddox2015” (but you are free to choose your own, of course.)

Sense About Science USA was launched earlier in the year as a part of the Sense About Science campaign. I’d love to nominate some people whose tireless work for science and public health awareness (especially in face of the bitter bile that the internet seems in the habit of generously spewing) I have been following. If posthumous nominations are possible, I would also like to nominate an activist for science and rational thinking who was brutally murdered for doing so.